A conceptual site plan from Cypress' inital study shows the potential layout of the 33-Acre Project. COURTESY OF THE CITY OF CYPRESS

Public input

The city of Cypress is accepting written comments until Wednesday to consider in the environmental impact report. Questions or comments about the 33-Acre Project can be sent to 33acreproject@ci.cypress.ca.us.

CYPRESS – A pocket of residents from this city and neighboring Los Alamitos are furious over a planned industrial development they worry will become a truck hotspot even as the city and the developer refute that will happen.

The city held an environmental impact report scoping meeting Wednesday night to solicit input from the public on the project. About 100 residents from both Cypress and Los Alamitos took the meeting as an opportunity to protest the traffic, air pollution and noise they fear the project will bring.

"I'm dead set against this plan," said Barbara Howell, 85, a retired bank teller, of Cypress. "This is the worst thing for our two communities. There's going to be extremely heavy and divisive traffic, noise, air pollution, dirt and destruction of road surfaces."

The scoping meeting is the first step in a process that requires City Council approval before any construction. City staffers expect the proposal to come to the council in August.

The development, which has been dubbed the "33-Acre Project," will be on a 33-acre lot on Katella Avenue and Enterprise Drive, most of which was part of the defunct Cypress Golf Club. Should the plan continue as is, three buildings for warehouse, distribution, light manufacturing and office use will be built on 725,000 square feet. The three buildings would hold up to 11 tenants. The plan includes bays for 129 trucks.

The development would be similar to other industrial parks in the area, said Nancy Shultz, vice president transactions officer at Prologis, the developer of the project. As an example of what the 33-Acre Project would be, Shultz pointed to the Warland Cypress Business Center two blocks away on the corner of Katella and Valley View Street. The center includes Mistubishi, Mary Kay, Yamaha and others as tenants.

Shultz stressed it is a speculative project, meaning there are no tenants lined up yet. Though she emphasized the plans do not accommodate the 300 to 350 trucks residents fear will come to the area, Shultz did acknowledge the businesses that would probably be attracted to the area would require trucks.

"Katella is designated as a truck and transit route," she said.

Should the development be approved, the city stands to earn the property and sales taxes from whatever businesses reside there, said Doug Hawkins, planning manager in Cypress. Because no tenants are confirmed, Hawkins did not have a figure for how much revenue the city would get.

The city does not anticipate any costs from the project, Hawkins said.

In addition to the worries about trucks, some residents are decrying the development as a "bait and switch" from the zoning measure they voted for that has led to the project.

In June, Cypress voters approved Measure L, which changed the zoning of the area to expand allowed uses including "market-rate senior citizen housing, assisted living facilities, professional offices, including medical services, and mixed-use commercial," according to the ballot wording. The proposed development falls under the mixed-use commercial specification of that measure.

But residents are upset because the measure was sold to them as a means to build a senior living facility, many said at Wednesday's meeting.

"What happened to our vote," said Maria Falcone, 60, a teacher. "Nobody called and asked me if it would be ok" to change the project.

Christo Bardis, former co-owner of the land, said there was a developer interested in building a senior living facility at the time of the measure.

That developer's plans and process became too extensive and too slow for Bardis and co-owner Ed Allred, Bardis said.

When Prologis approached the pair, they and the city of Cypress were enthusiastic about Prologis' proposal, he said.

Prologis paid nearly $33 million for the land, Bardis said.

"The citizens have legitimate concerns, but property is property, and it's going to be developed," Bardis said.

One aspect of the project would require approval from the Los Alamitos City Council: a signalized intersection on Katella at a new private street to access the development. If the Los Alamitos City Council does not approve that, Prologis will need to redraw plans for an access point, Hawkins said.

Los Alamitos' City Council voted unanimously last week to oppose the project and directed staffers to look into ways to stop it. The agenda for the council's closed session listed the discussion as initiating litigation, but council members would not confirm if they will pursue a lawsuit.

"We oppose the project as proposed and directed staff to take the necessary steps to protect the city," Mayor Pro Tem Gerri Graham-Mejia said is the official council statement. "All I can say is that we decided to take any steps necessary to protect the city."

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